Post by Owen Y on Sept 12, 2020 14:26:41 GMT 12
This EEVblog (David Jones) video is quite old (2010), but is still possibly a good starting point guide before you buy multimeter. Jones has a 'unique' style, but he is well-respected & popular (750k YouTube subscribers). Check out his thoughts on the following multimeter spec's (not all of which will be important for you, but a good primer for understanding these handy devices): (Not necessarily in order of importance.) - Battery life - input jacks & plugs - capacitance accuracy - Frequency measurement? - 'Relative' measurement (V/Ω) - Min/Max(/Aver) measurement - Hold function & Auto-hold - Temperature measurement - Display digit size - Display backlight - Safety rating (Cat III etc) - Accuracy - True RMS (ACV) - AC bandwidth - Display updating speed - Autoranging speed - Low-pass signal filter - Ruggedness - 'Burden' voltage (current measurement) - Bench multimeters? - Construction quality
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Post by Citroen on Sept 12, 2020 21:04:23 GMT 12
Being an electronic neanderthal, I have this cheapie manual ranging multimeter from Bunnings, mainly bought to measure the resistance of a cartridge in order to identify its model. Did all I needed it to do! 
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Post by colinf on Sept 12, 2020 22:12:58 GMT 12
My battery of little workhorses over the years, still in use almost every day, except the DSE which I use every day all day. The Honor is the first meter I ever had about age 10. The Fluke 8060A my first ‘proper’ meter at work in the 80s and 90s. The DSE Q1559 has been very reliable (I’ve blown it up a few times and repaired it) and still use it today, despite it being almost 25 years old. The Digitech was bought to assist with multiple measurements at the same time. 
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 14, 2020 9:45:36 GMT 12
Being an electronic neanderthal, I have this cheapie manual ranging multimeter from Bunnings, mainly bought to measure the resistance of a cartridge in order to identify its model. Did all I needed it to do! I've never been brave enough to do this. With a MC anyway. They say that modern digital meters are fine, but older meters might run enough current to fry the MC coil  Below is my collection of meters (most of them, I have a couple of AVO Model 8s that I really must get rid of)... colinf's HONOR appears to be EXACTLY like my ARROW (which I bought in the 80s-90s from Philips in Akld), because I thought I should have an analogue meter, for the odd occasion when it might be useful. Also it does 1000V AC/DC. ~$60-70? The LUTRON I bought s/h from a pal, for not much. The FLUKE 111 bought new, ~$250, USA-made, true rms but basic, so-so accuracy I think. Because I wanted a Fluke  . My most modern (10-15yrs?) & go-to meter. The bench meter is an ESCORT EDM-2347, s/h again from a Radio auction. Has been useful when I want to hook up a 2nd meter, but I think I'll be swapping it for a 2nd handheld meter, as bench/shelf space is tight & handheld DMMs are so good & affordable these days.  I also have a small collection of old AVO meters, including this Model 16 (from a Radio auction again). I fancied the old analogue meters for their 1000V capability but... DMMs can do that now & with better accuracy. Also I'm unlikely to be building or playing with an Ongaku-clone any time soon so it might have to go into the clear-out too. 
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Post by Citroen on Sept 14, 2020 10:15:24 GMT 12
Being an electronic neanderthal, I have this cheapie manual ranging multimeter from Bunnings, mainly bought to measure the resistance of a cartridge in order to identify its model. Did all I needed it to do! I've never been brave enough to do this. With a MC anyway. They say that modern digital meters are fine, but older meters might run enough current to fry the MC coil Ignorance is indeed bliss! BTW, it was a Grado MI cartridge, so maybe not so risky?
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 15, 2020 18:15:49 GMT 12
EEVblog actually promotes 2 multimeters, which have been selected, torn-down, inspected by Mr Jones & then co-branded by the manufacturer for him & with a distinctive blue protective cover. The less expensive one, made by BRYMEN (Taiwan), is currently available for AU$170 directly from EEVblog (or from Amazon). Jeremy bought one, but I haven't played with it yet. It is compact, but solid, with better-than-average quality silicone sheathed probe leads, gold-plated probes with screw-on banana-plug adaptors & a (average quality looking) thermocouple (temperature) test lead. (My meter/s do not have the latter & I've always wondered how hot is too HOT, with transformers, heatsinks, etc.) This guy has rugged safety design, CAT IV rated for 300V, CAT III for 600V & CAT II for 1kV, & HBC fused. VDC & Ohms accuracy is down to +/-0.3% with a 6000 count display. If/when the AU$ dips down again, I'll be tempted. 
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 18, 2020 12:24:38 GMT 12
I forgot... the Brymen 235 above uses 2 x AAA batteries, not those more costly 9V batts. 
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Post by cooksferry on Sept 25, 2020 11:58:21 GMT 12
For years I used a lovely japanese made analogue meter that was fine for chasing Lucas electrics on my Norton but as the Hondas in our workshop became more complex a change to digital was required. I got tired of the cheap rubbish that the firm supplied at the time and ended up with a Brymen BM727 which served me well for many years. It was used a lot with Hondas peak voltage adapter leads for testing ignition systems where the hold and store functions were appreciated. To be fair I hardly scratched the surface of what the meter could do. Just pulled it apart to remove a dead battery and it looks like new inside. It was always wrapped in a very heavy protective rubber case.
The analogue unit moved to a new owner via trade me some years ago.
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. My most modern (10-15yrs?) & go-to meter.
